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Based on the book, Illicit, by Dr. Moises Naimhighly acclaimed editor of Foreign Policy Magazinethis TV special explores the onslaught of illicit activities exploding worldwide and the consequences of globalizationspurring arms trafficking and human smuggling to money laundering and music bootlegging.

This is a compelling video that provides extensive video footage but it leaves out one crucial detail. One of the contributing causes to counterfeiting is the exportation of jobs by legitimate businesses eager to cut labor costs. When they unwisely move their manufacturing to countries without adequate laws or enforcement, they also send important information about how to manufacture their goods.

In some cases, the same manufacturer who produces legitimate goods under license by day also surreptitiously produces illegitimate goods by night. This has caused some designers to issue serial numbers and holograms to their foreign manufacturers at the last moment of production in order to control such practices. Counterfeiting is a terrible and under-reported problem, but if more manufacturing was performed in countries with adequate regulatory safeguards, such crimes could more easily be prevented or stopped and prosecuted.